7 SEO Tips For eCommerce

There is SEO, and then there is SEO for ecommerce. While some of the typical SEO tips you will see on the web are certainly relevant for ecommerce sites, there are some best practices which are unique to the web addresses of online retailers. In this blog, we run through seven SEO tips for ecommerce websites:

1. Optimise your product pages

There are plenty of ways in which you can improve the product pages on your ecommerce site for the purposes of SEO. There are many ways in which product pages can easily be ineffective in your push for search engine ranking leaps. Duplicate or substandard content can be just some of the typical weak spots. So ensure your product descriptions are unique, that you include metadata, and encourage user-generated content such as reviews.

2. Optimise your category pages

If you are looking for a home for your top level keywords, you have one right here on your category pages. This is a way of driving high traffic by including keywords which are focused on the product terms online shoppers are searching for. Your text should be rich, with at least a paragraph describing what the category is about and which kind of products are included. And if you’re in the process of link building, try to focus on including links to these category pages, as this is recognised as a helpful SEO practice.

3. Organise your site navigation

Structuring your site in a Google friendly layout is essential.

Consider adding several landing pages for specific brands or product types. This allows you to optimise for multiple keyword groups and multiple pages – in turn this increases your site’s visibility when search.

4. Say yes to HTTPS

Switching to HTTPS can be beneficial for all websites, but it is especially pertinent for eCommerce. That’s because this security feature assures encryption for visitors to your website and protects their activities. It is even more important considering the personal details which can be exchanged over eCommerce sites, including payment information. An HTTPS URL gives visitors to your site the reassuring padlock symbol and green part of the address bar. More importantly, users need not be issued with a security warning that your eCommerce site is not encrypted and risks being a deceptive platform. This can see many potential visitors turn back before they even start shopping.

5. Understand the potential problem with a filter system

Filter search systems can undoubtedly be helpful to ecommerce customers, allowing them to narrow down items as they browse for a particular product. But they can also be counterproductive when it comes to SEO. That’s because they have the effect of producing a large number of indexed pages, on which it is likely that there is a lot of duplicate content. Google is recognised as not liking duplicate content, so if your number of index pages are spiralling out of control, the best answer could be to add a parameters noindex follow with a meta robots tag.

6. Use internal links naturally

Google will notice when you’re overusing internal links, ensure your use of internal links is natural. For example, placing an internal link to another related product on a product page would be natural. Opposed to overfilling your pages with irrelevant internal links. In addition, placing links on your homepage to your products will also help the product’s page rank score and be easier for customers to navigate.

7. Keyword research

Keyword research should be a main priority for any SEO plan. Knowing what your customers are searching for helps you gain an insight to what they are physically typing in to search engines when searching for a certain products you sell. This allows you to focus on keywords and phrases which will get noticed by potential customers. This of course does not mean filling your pages with keywords. There is no need to constantly use the same keyword throughout your page. Google’s Latent Semantic Indexing means Google uses context clues to recognise what the content is about. Top sites for keyword research include Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMRush and Moz.

SEO for ecommerce websites takes on a whole new importance and offers a real incentive for site admins to keep up with all the latest tips and tricks. We hope these tips can help boost your SEO traction.